Abstract

The Letter to the Ephesians is the subject of various investigations conducted with socio-historical methodologies. They represent the community to whom the letter is addressed as an "ingroup", characterized however by the assumption of cultural models of the environment, as in the case of the household code. Some authors argue that this implies a hierarchical and patriarchal vision of the Church. The most literary studies recognize that the understanding of the Church in Ephesians is articulated in relation to Christ and the μυστήριον, and the presence of the household code should be correlated with other types of language present in the letter. Seen in its universal dimension, the Church is an interethnic community founded on the past ministry of the apostles, among whom the figure of Paul is prominent. The contemporary research often lacks a reflection on the possible complementarity of diversified methodologies, which can lead to different results. In any case, it is necessary to consider the synchronic and rhetorical dimension of the text, which is not a mere reflection of external data but resignifies them in an original way. Finally, the importance given to the figure of the apostle justifies the use of pseudepigraphy.